Slicer



Nov. 22, 1938. E. STRECKFUSS ET AL 2,137,364

SLICER Filed Feb. 12, 1956 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS.

& w w UY. N 3 m 3 m 17A 54 R m 4Y B Nov. 22 1938. E. G. s'nEc Fuss ET AL2,137,364

SLICER Filed Feb. 12. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \FWYD 0 GEoRGEALE/vS/(Y.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 22, 1938 PATENT OFFICE sucm Elmer G. Streckfussand GeorgeA. Lensky, Gincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Cincinnati Time RecorderCompany, Cincinnati, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application February 12, 1936, Serial No. 63,566

4 Claims. (01. 146-146) Our invention relates to slicers of the typewhich are used in grocery stores and meat markets, for the slicing ofvarious articles of merchandise, such as meats, sausages of all kinds,cheeses and the like.

It is an object of our invention to provide a slicer of this type whichwill be of sturdy and compact construction, and therefore not subject togetting outof adjustment.

It is another object of our invention in connection with such a slicer,to provide a stop member by means of which the thickness of the slice tobe cut may be effectively gauged. Further, it is an object of ourinvention to provide such a stop plate which will be capable of following the movement of the slicer blade, so that when the blade iselevated, the stop plate will be in its elevated position to act as anabutment for the merchandise to be sliced, and which abutment will belowered out of the way when the blade is depressed in taking the slice.

In this connection, it is a further object of our invention to providemeans whereby the stop plate will not be lowered during the firstportion of the downward movement of the blade, whereby it is insuredthat a slice is begun before the stop plate is retracted.

Further, it is an object of our invention to provide means whereby themechanism for raising the stop plate upon actuation of the slicing knifemay be rendered inoperative.

Another object of our invention is to provide means for accuratelyvarying the position of the stop plate in order to provide for thecutting of slices of varying thicknesses. In this connection it is ourobject to render the adjusting means independent of the knife or otherparts of the machine, so that the gauge may be set as desired regardlessof whether the knife be in its raised or lowered position, and to placethe operating knob for said adjusting means conveniently for theoperator at the front of the machine. A still further object of ourinvention is to provide means for taking extremely large slices. Insuchcases it is desirable that the material being sliced be supported onboth sides of the blade, and to this end, it is our. object to providemeans for moving the entire material support under the blade.

These and other objects of our invention which will be set forthhereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art uponreading these specifications, We accomplished by that certainconstruction and arrangement of parts of which we shall now describe anexemplary embodiment. Reference is now made to the drawings which form apart hereof, and in which:-

Figure l is a front elevation of our slicer.

Figure 2 is a plan View with a portion of the material carrier andframework broken away to show the underlying construction.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing themechanism in a position in which the stop plate is elevated by movementof the knife.

Figure 4 is a similar view but showing the mechanism in a position inwhich the stop plate is not raised upon movement of the knife.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of one of the op erating members taken onthe line 5-5 of Figure 2. t

Figure 6 is a horizontal section showing certain construction taken onthe line 6 6 of Figure 4.

Briefly, in the practice of our invention, we provide a frame or housingI, which is provided in its upper portion with an opening 2. On theupper portion of the framework We provide finished portions 3 and 4, andcentrally a pair of slotted bosses 5. The material carrier is shown at6, and is of L-shaped cross section. Upon its lower side it is providedwith a plurality of bosses l to which are screwed a series of rails 8.The two outside rails ride upon the finished surfaces 3 and, 4, and thecarriage is held in position upon the frame by means of the brackets 9,which are screwed to the said frame. The central rail 8 rides in theaforementioned slots in the bosses 5. Screwed to the central rail 8.is aslotted stud In, the function of which will be described hereinafter.

Mounted transversely of the frame is a shaft H, which has bearings inbosses I2 on the said frame I. At its right hand end, as seen in Figure2, this shaft ll carries the stop plate or thickness gauge IS. The shaftll carries fixedly thereon a collar l4 and the entire shaft togetherwith the stop plate are urged toward the right by the action of acompression spring l5 which acts between the left hand boss I2 and thecollar l4.

Mounted in the front of the frame I is an operating knob it, which isprovided with appropriate markings as, for example, from 1 to 12. Thisknob i6 is mounted fixedly upon a shaft H which rides in a boss [8 inthe front Wall of the frame. The rear face of the knob I6 is providedwith a number of small depressions I9 equal in number to the number ofindicia on the face of the knob. A round headed stud 20 spring mountedin a hole 2| in the boss I8, is adapted to engage with the depressionsI9 to yieldingly fix the position of the knob at each point where one ofthe indicia is opposite a small indicating screw 22. Within theframework the shaft carries a cam 23. Pivoted underneath the stopportion of the frame or housing as at 24, is a lever 25. One end of thislever carries a roller 26 which is adapted to ride upon theaforementioned cam 23.

carries a roller 21 which is adapted to ride" against the collar I4.Thus it may be seen that by turning the knob IS the position of the stopplate |3 may be adjusted to vary the thickness of the slice desired. Theindicia may conveniently be arranged so that the numeral 1 may indicatethe thinnest slice and the numeral 12 indicate the thickest slice, or inany other .convenient manner. The knife blade is shown at 21 and ismounted upon the knife frame 28 which is fixedly mounted upon a shaft 29which has a bearing in a boss 30 at the rear of the frame. The front endof the knife frame .28 carries a handle 3|. We have found it desirableto mount a bracket 32 upon the frame, carrying a spring mounted stud 33underneath the handle 3| so as to provide a yieldable abutment for theknife. The rear of the knife frame 28 is provided with a lug 56 which isadapted to be retained by the spring clip 51 which is mounted upon astud 58 fixed in the frame boss 36. The purpose of this construction isto prevent accidental dislodgement of the knife blade from its raisedposition, forwardly by means of the clip 57, or rearwardly by means ofthe coaction between the lug 56 and the stud 58. Additional safety meansare provided by means of the thumb guard 59 which is affixed to theframe I at the front of the machine.

The other end of the shaft 29 carries a lever 34 fixed upon it, and alinkage comprising the levers 35 and 36 connects the lever 34 with alever 31 fixed upon the shaft I As may be seen in Figure 6, a shortshaft 38 is mounted in the framework in a position which in Figure 4would bring it immediately behind the joint between the levers 35 and36. The shaft 38 carries a forked member 39 to which is screwed aslotted plate 40. Upon the screw which connects the levers 35 and 36, wemount a stud 4| which is adapted to ride in the slot 40a in the plate40.

Now with the parts in the position shown in Figure 4, when the knife israised the lever 34 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction and sincethe joints between the members 34 and 35, 35 and 36, and 36 and 31, arefree, the stud 4| will simply ride downwardly in the slot 40a. in theplate 40, without affecting the shaft The reason it will do this is thatthe major portion of the slot 40a is formed as an arc, drawn about thecenter of the joint between the links 36 and 31 as a center, and havinga radius between centers of the link 36.

Also within the housing we mount a shaft 42 as in the bosses 43 and 44.Upon this shaft we mount a collar 45, which is adapted to be rocked bymeans. of the operating lever 46. Attached to the collar 45 by means ofthe extensions 45a is a forked lever 60. A pin 41 is mounted upon theplate 40 and as shown in Figure 4,. is adapted to be engaged by the forkportion of the lever 46.

If now it be desired that the stop plate be raised upon elevation of theknife, the operating lever 46 is moved to the position shown in Figureequal to the length, joints at each end, of the The other end of thelever.

3. By virtue of the construction just above described, the plate 40 isrocked in a counterclockwise direction so that the stud 4| in movingthrough the slot 40a, is forced to travel in a substantially horizontaldirection, whereby the linkage 3435-3631 transmits the motion of theshaft 29 to the shaft whereby the plate I3 is elevated and depressed inunison with the knife. The terminal portion of the slot 40a is hookedwas indicated at 40b so that as the knife is raised, the stop plate willfollow it upwardly until the stud 4| reaches the hooked portion of theslot 40b, whereby the action of the linkage will be of the typediscussed in connection with Figure 4. In other words, further upwardmovement of the operating handle of the knife will have no furtherefiect upon the stop plate. Likewise upon return movement' of the knifedownwardly, the stop plate will not begin to be retracted until the stud4| has traversed the hooked portion of the slot 46b and has entered thestraight portion 40a. Screwed into the frame as at 55 is a stop memberfor the plate l3. This member is preferably made of rubber or otherresilient material so as not to injure the enamel on the plate |3.

The lever 60 carries an upward extension 60a which rides in the slot inthe stud In, which was described above. With the operating handle 46 inits raised position, as shown in Figure 4, the operating handle 46 maybe moved toward the right by virtue of the slot indicated at 50 inFigure 1. This motion will be transmitted by the portion 60a and thestud ID to the carriage 6 which will thus be bodily moved toward theright. It will be noted that the upstanding portion of the carriage 6 isprovided with a slot 5| and that the more or less horizontal portion isprovided with a groove 52. Upon extreme movement to ward the right ofthe operating handle 46, the

position of the carriage will be such that the knife 21 passes throughthe slot 5| into the groove 52. Thus, means are provided for supportingfood-stuffs on both sides of the blade where it is desired to take aheavy cut. The operating handle milled knob 53 which is preferablyspring mounted. The inner end of the milled knob is tapered as at 53a,so as to seat in the countersunk portion 50a of the L-shaped slot 50,whereby the three positions of the lever 46 are defined. As a furthersafeguard against lateral movement of the table when the operatinghandle is in its lower position as shown at 53, we provide an L-shapedslotted bracket 54 screwed to the under side of the frame. In theposition shown in Figure 3, the portion 60a of the lever 60 enters theslot in the bracket 54 so that the table is locked against lateralmovement, while when the lever 46 is in its raised position as shown at54, the portion 600, clears the bracket 54 so that lateral movement ofthe carriage is permitted.

It is to be understood that different forms of our preferred embodimentmay be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, and thatwe do not intend to limit ourselves otherwise than as indicated in theappended claims.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. In a slicing mechanism having a knife mounted on a shaft and astopmounted on a shaft, a linkage mechanism for selectively transmittingmotion from one shaft operating the knife, to another shaft operatingthe stop, comprising a lever fixed on each shaft, and two con- 46 isprovided at its outer end with a I nected links which are connectedrespectively to the said fixed levers, and guide means for the jointbetween said two connected links, said guide means being movable to oneposition in which the movement of said joint is ineffective to transmitsaid motion, and to another position in which it is effective totransmit said motion.

2. In a slicing machine having a pivoted cutting element, a materialsupport formed of two sides at an angle to each other, said cuttingelement adapted to out along an edge of the plane of one of the sides ofsaid support, a groove in one side, and a slot in the other side, andmeans to shift said support laterally so that said cutting element maypass through said slot and into said groove, and a thumb guard disposedin fixed relation to the cutting plane of said cutting element.

3. In a slicing mechanism having a knife mounted on a shaft and a stopmounted on a shaft, a linkage mechanism for selectively transmittingmotion from one shaft operating the knife, to another shaft operatingthe stop, comprising a lever fixed on each shaft, and two connectedlinks which are connected respectively to the said fixed levers, andguide means comprising a pivotally mounted slotted plate for guiding thejoint between said two connected links, said guide means being movableto one position in which the movement of said joint is ineffective totransmit said motion, and to another position in which it is effectiveto transmit said motion.

4. In a slicing mechanism having a knife mounted on a shaft and a stopmounted on a shaft, a linkage mechanism for selectively transmittingmotion from one shaft operating the knife, to another shaft operatingthe stop, comprising a lever fixed on each shaft, and two connectedlinks which are connected respectively to the said fixed levers, andguide means comprising a pivotally mounted slotted plate for guiding thejoint between said two connected links, said slot having a terminalportion angularly disposed with respect to the rest of the slot, saidguide means being movable to one position in which the movement of saidjoint is ineffective to transmit said motion, and to another position inwhich it is effective to transmit said motion until it enters theangular portion of said slot, whereupon it is again ineffective, for thepurpose described.

ELMER G. STRECKF'USS. GEORGE A. LENSKY.

